A Different Look At Art

Success Academy’s teaching methods ensuring high test scores for students

The New York-based charter school network Success Academy is one of the biggest successes in the country when it comes to test scores. That is because the students in its elementary and middle schools are now testing in the top 10 percent of the state, and their high school students are not that far behind.

How has Success Academy managed to get such high test scores in the just over 10 years since it was founded?

The school mandated from the very beginning that teacher instruction would be only for 80 minutes every day. Students working in groups and learning by themselves would be the rest of it.

What this has done has caused students to learn by hands-on doing, and by the involvement in demanding group projects. Education is also looked at as fun, as Success Academy believes if you make a child enjoy learning they will keep coming back for more.

Learning is not easy in a Success Academy school, however, as subjects studied are demanding. There is an emphasis on English, math and science, with subjects like history, geography, debate, sports, theater and art also getting a lot of attention.